Countries outside the EU drive Idrobase Group to a +11% increase in sales

Despite what you may read in the international press about the dire state of the global economy, it's not all doom and gloom and indeed one small to medium sized company based in Veneto, Italy, is really bucking the trend with increased sales - particularly to countries outside the EU.

Idrobase Group, which specialises in the production of high pressure washers and accessories, tells us that its results for the first half of 2012 have confirmed that the path it has set itself - despite the general crisis - continues to prove successful.

Turnover in the first half of 2012 was €4.1 million - an increase of 11% over the same period in 2011. It was also a figure greater than the company's expectations, as having taken into account the prolonged recession, it had been more conservative in its estimates.

Looking more closely at the details, the team realised that the area of the business that had proved most buoyant was sales of accessories that can repair any type of high pressure washer, rather than sales the machines themselves. They realised that this is perhaps a sign of the difficulty faced by our industry, where people prefer to repair machines rather than buy new ones.

Breaking down the sales trends of this strategically export-oriented group further, the team realised that of the 83 countries to which sales had been made over the first half of 2012, 52.4% (+8%) of the total are outside the EU. The CEE countries showed the biggest increase, representing 24.1% (+ 27%) of total sales. The only market which opposes this trend is the Italian market with 23.5% (-11%)!

The biggest customer is Russia. In Europe - and especially Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary sales are growing, while for the non-EU countries the most important development in terms of results touches four continents with major sales to Iran, Argentina, Australia and China.

"Fortunately, 20 years ago we took the strategic decision to become producers instead of remaining distributors - explain Bruno Ferrarese and Bruno Gazzignato, owners of Idrobase Group. "We looked at the world market and we have geared up, first of all by learning the English language. It was the key driver of this company, which over the past five years has doubled its revenue and aims to double it again in the next five years. We know how to do it!"